Should I add some Prime to my tank?

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x3ro

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Jan 20, 2009
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I think I may have pulled a stupid, and not even thought about it..

I've been cycling my tank by adding ammonia, and been topping off with tap water..

I forgot about adding prime or another dechlorinator to the tap water before topping off the tank..

I last topped off a week or so ago... Should I go ahead and add in some prime? How will this affect my cycle?

Should I add some prime, let it sit for awhile, then add back in 2-3ppm of ammonia?
 
It will matter. I never dechlorinate top off water. You can add some Prime if you wish for safety but it is of no importance, add your ammonia and keep going. I only use the dechlor when I do water changes, a few gallons of water with chlorine is not going to hurt anything.
 
jpappy789 said:
Adding a decholrinator will could definitely make a difference as chlorine kills your bacteria colony on contact...I'd rather be safe than sorry personally...
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So you think I should add some prime, wait a while, and then dose with ammonia or what?
 
Yep. I always add a dechlor if there is a chance of adding chlorine to my tanks. Regardless of the amount. I'd add the Prime (make sure it's one that doesn't "eliminate" ammonia, but just makes the chlorine/chloramines safe) and then you should be able to dose immediately after. Personally, I'd wait 5 minutes, but I'm paranoid. It doesn't take long at all for the Prime or whatever you use to work.
 
x3ro said:
I think I may have pulled a stupid, and not even thought about it..

I've been cycling my tank by adding ammonia, and been topping off with tap water..

I forgot about adding prime or another dechlorinator to the tap water before topping off the tank..

I last topped off a week or so ago... Should I go ahead and add in some prime? How will this affect my cycle?

Should I add some prime, let it sit for awhile, then add back in 2-3ppm of ammonia?
Click to expand...


As to adding "Prime" as a few mentioned, YES to avoid killing the benificial bacteria, that said, how much you are topping off will also make a differance, a smal amount in relation to overall volume, you might get away with it. Prime is cheap, just treat the water, leave it sit a bit, then top off the tank, better safe than sorry.
 
It's a good idea to keep a some bottles of RO water on hand for top off purposes. The water lost to evaporation leaves behind all the minerals it contained. So over time the total dissolved solids in your water will increase if you do frequent top offs with tap water.
And you have no worries about using dechlor with RO water.
 
gmh said:
It's a good idea to keep a some bottles of RO water on hand for top off purposes. The water lost to evaporation leaves behind all the minerals it contained. So over time the total dissolved solids in your water will increase if you do frequent top offs with tap water.
And you have no worries about using dechlor with RO water.
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Yeah but where does one get RO water without spending hundreds on a filtration system?
 
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A local fish store may sell it. Or those water vending machines you see around many supermarkets. Most of them produce RO water. It should say so on the machine. You could test the first batch for GH/ KH to make sure it is really RO.
Or you can just buy gallon jugs of distilled water at the supermarket. More expensive that way, probably around a buck a gallon.
 
gmh said:
A local fish store may sell it. Or those water vending machines you see around many supermarkets. Most of them produce RO water. It should say so on the machine. You could test the first batch for GH/ KH to make sure it is really RO.
Or you can just buy gallon jugs of distilled water at the supermarket. More expensive that way, probably around a buck a gallon.
Click to expand...

Exactly, distilled water may be cheaper per gallon than RO depending on your store. I feel like mine is a huge rip off...
 
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